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Thursday, August 08, 2013

10 from 100- A Profile of Canadian Book Challenge participant MELWYK

John's preamble: A brand new feature to the Canadian Book Challenge is a little something I like to call 10 From 100. I've prepared a list of 100 questions (which was harder than I'd anticipated!) from which I hope to get interested participants to select just 10 to answer. The first victim person I've recruited goes by the username Melwyk and is one of the few people that have been with the Canadian Book Challenge ever since it started. She's a librarian from Southern Ontario and she blogs at The Indextrious Reader. Without further ado, here's Melwyk's

10 FROM 100

1. Are your Canadian Book Challenge choices pre-picked and are you following any theme?

I like to pick a theme each year, but I was finding that I wanted to talk about all the Canadian reading I was doing! So now I pick a theme to work on, while still trying to include all of the other Canadian books I read over the year as well. This year I'm planning on reading at least 13 epistolary novels within my Canadian choices. It's a fun way to challenge myself while also celebrating all the Canadian reading I do.

2. Have you finished the Canadian Book Challenge in previous years?

I didn't the first year, but have since then. I like having this collegial challenge to keep me focused on sharing more Canadian fiction -- and it is mainly fiction, though I do read some non-fiction and poetry as well.

3.What was your favourite book read for this or a previous Canadian Book Challenge?

I've found some really great books, but a couple that I picked up thinking specifically about the Challenge were the recently published Dance, Gladys, Dance by Cassie Stocks, and the older novel Things Go Flying by Shari Lapena. I hadn't had either on a list, but found them serendipitously, and thought they'd be perfect for the CBC. I also finally picked up a novel that had been on my list for a few years, Monique Proulx's Wildlives, and I really loved all three. There have been many great finds overall, though.

4. Name a book that you wish to read based on someone else’s Canadian Book Challenge review.

Since I always need nonfiction suggestions, I think that The Juggler's Children by Carolyn Abraham sounds great, thanks to Tanya at 52 Books or Bust's review.
As for fiction, one that I didn't even realize was written by a Canadian until I saw Danielle at A Work in Progress' review, is The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James. It looks just my style!

5. Name a blog or blogger you’ve discovered (other than the Book Mine Set!) through the Canadian Book Challenge.

There have been quite a few great new blogs to follow over the last 7 years! But one of the most recent discoveries for me was Barb at Leaves and Pages. I seem to enjoy the same style of reading as she does, so it has been a fruitful discovery for me!

6. Best bookstore near you and why.

In Stratford, my favourite place for new books is Fanfare Books. It's right downtown and dangerously close for lunch hour jaunts... The owner is knowledgeable and personable, and is also very supportive of the library and the local literary community, so I enjoy shopping there.

7. After photos, what is the next material item you would try and rescue from a house fire?

That would definitely be my box of old journals. Journaling is important to me (some of you may know that I also teach journal writing classes locally). I've kept regular journals for over 20 years, and they are all in a box that would be easy to grab on the way out the door! To me, my journals are like photos, in that they capture the person I was and how I've got to where I am. I don't often reread them, but I like knowing that I could if I wanted to.

8. The worst punctuation or spelling mistake that people make is ____________________________.

Less / Fewer. This one drives me crazy! Less is for singular, fewer is for plural. I have less money than you, but you have fewer days off, for example!

9.What is the longest book you’ve ever read?

That is clearly Proust's In Search of Lost Time. I read it over a decade ago, and it took two years of leisurely reading. I'm thinking that perhaps I should begin again.

10.If you were to get a poem tattooed on your body, what poem would it be?

In the unlikely event that I could be talked into getting a tattoo, and it was going to be poetry, I would choose this verse from Wallace Stevens' “Sunday Morning”. I have loved it for many years.

Divinity must live within herself: Passions of rain, or moods in falling snow; Grievings in loneliness, or unsubdued Elations when the forest blooms; gusty Emotions on wet roads on autumn nights; All pleasures and all pains, remembering The bough of summer and the winter branch. These are the measures destined for her soul.

A huge thank-you to Melwyk for being the brave person to go first. I have a few more people in mind that I'll be asking to participate in the future (no obligation!) but if you're interested being profiled, please email me and let me know.